Chaeles thomas mason



(NoModeL) O. T. MASON, Jr.

COTTON GIN.

Patented Apr. 21, 1885.

D-WH 0 T m V N I ATTORNEY.

PEYERS. mwumo n hcr. Washinglcn D c NNITNED STATES v I PATENT -OFFIcn..

, CHARLES THOMAS MASON, JR, OF SUMTER, ASSIGNOR TO THE MASON OOT- TONGIN CYLINDER COMPANY, OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA.'

COTTON-GIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 316,378 dated April 21,1885. Application filed November 15, 1884. (No model.)

connection with said saws being also dispensed with.

The invention consists more particularly in the construction of theperiphery of the cylinder, as hereinafter set forth.

In another application for Letters Patent filed September10,1884,No.142,609, andnow pending, I have fully set forth and describeda cotton-ginning cylinder having a substantially smooth periphery, andupon said periphery teeth arranged in openings formed therein, thepoints of said teeth being disposed at or slightly above the level ofthe circumjacent portions of said periphery, and I have also described aparticular arrangement of said teeth so disposed that they are caused bythe rotation of the said cylinder in contact with the seed-cotton to bethrust into and so to penetrate the outer fluffy coating of thecottonseeds before beginning to strip the lint or fiber therefrom. Tothis end in the aforesaid application I have shown and described teethstraight, fiat, or tangential to the circumference of the cylinder, andhence not conforming to the curve thereof. In still another applicationfor Letters Patent filed simultaneously herewith, No. 148,020, I haveshown and de scribed a cylinder of similar construction in which theteeth are differently disposed-that is to say, the cylinder iscorrugated longitudinally, and has a row of teeth and openings alongeach corrugation. The curve of the teeth conforms to the curve of thecorrugation; but by reason of the sharpness of the latter the forwardend of the opening immediately in front of the points of the teeth isradially nearer to the axis of the cylinder than are said points; hencethe lint may enter said opening in a tangential direction, and so meetthe point; or, in other words, by reason of the free space surroundingthe point, the latter may be thrust 3 is a section of a portion of theperiphery of said cylinder, showing the arrangement and disposition ofthe teeth.- V

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts;

A is the grate fall or breast, hinged to the main frame at a.

B is the back board, 0 the seed-board, and D the brush for removing thelint from the cylinder.

E is the ginning-cylinder, which in the machine occupies substantiallythe same position as the saw-gin cylinder in common use, the grate gridor ribs being removed and a bar, F, secured in the concave c. The gratefall or breast A, being hinged, as already stated, is adjustable nearerto or farther from the frame, and as the bar F is secured in said breastthe movement of the latter may bring said bar nearer to or farther fromthe cylinder-surface.

The cylinder E consists of a sheet or thin plate of metal, G, preferablysteel, which is bent in cylindrical shape, having its meeting edgessecured together. It is provided at the ends with heads or disks ofwood, H, (dotted lines, Fig. 2,) which are secured in any suitable wayto a sleeve, h, adapted to receive the splined shaft I.

In the sheet or thin plate G, Iformanumber of slots or openings, 0,disposedlongitudinally across the surface or in the direction of theaxis of the cylinder. In each slot or opening I form a pointed tooth, g,from the material of said sheet G and integral therewith, said toothlying lengthwise the slot. By reason of the tooth being tapered andpointed and arranged in the slot there is an open space extendingdirectly in front of the point of the tooth and on each side of the bodythereof. Into this opening the lint (because of its elasticity andsoftness) can enter when brought in contact with the periphery of thecylinder.

In order that the point of the tooth may penetrate the exterior fiuffycoating of the seed by a direct thrust, or, in other words, in orderthat the cotton surrounding said tooth may meet the same in a directiontangential to the circumference of the cylinder, I form in the peripheryof the latter and in front of the points of each row of teethlongitudinal recesses, depressions, or indentations, J. These recessesare very shallow; but when they are present the cotton surrounding theseed enters them, and in this way is presented to the point of thetooth, which, when the cylinder is rotated, thus is free to penetratedirectly for a certain distance into the covering of the seed before itbegins its drawing action on the fiber.

In operation the seed-cotton is fed into the receptacle K, and meets thetoothed surface of the cylinder E, which rotates in the direction of thearrow 4. The teeth upon said cylinder engage only with the cotton lint,as already described, and carry the same past and under the bar F, whichprevents seeds and other forei'gn substances being drawn around thecylinder with the lint. As the cylinder continues itsrevolution,the'lint is removed from its teeth by the brush-wheel D, fromwhich the cleansed material passes out of the machine in the directionof the arrow 5.

I claim as my invention-- 1. A cotton-ginning cylinder having in itsperiphery openings, anda tooth in each open- 0 ing lying in acircumferential direction, the

said tooth having its body conforming to the curve of the periphery andits point at the level of the general surface thereof, and a shallowrecess or depression in said periphery 3 5 in frontwof the point of saidtooth, substantially as described.

2. A cotton-ginning cylinder having in its periphery a series ofopenings, and a tooth in each of said openings lying in a circumferen-4o tial direction, the said tooth having its body conforming to thecurve of the periphery and its point at the level of the general surfaceof the cylinder, and a shallow recess ordepressioninsaidperipheryextendinglongitudinally 45 across the cylinderand in front of the points of the series of teeth, substantially asdescribed.

3. A cotton-ginning cylinder having asheetmetal periphery, G, containingrows of openings 0 and contained teeth 9, and longitudi- 5o nal recessesor depressions J in said periphery extending in front of the points ofsaid teeth, substantially as described.

CHARLES THOMAS MASON, JR.

Witnesses:

PARK BENJAMIN, J OHN J. BOWEN.

